Microsoft shares fall for a third straight session on Monday, company set to obtain EU antitrust approval for GitHub deal

According to a report by Reuters on Monday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is poised to obtain unconditional approval from EU antitrust regulators for its $7.5-billion acquisition of coding website GitHub.

Microsoft shares closed lower for a third consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Monday. The stock went down 1.14% ($1.28) to $110.85, after touching an intraday low at $109.34, or a price level not seen since September 11th ($108.89).

Shares of Microsoft Corporation have surged 29.59% so far in 2018 compared with a 7.89% gain for the underlying index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, Microsoft’s stock rose 37.66%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

According to Reuters, the acquisition of GitHub would be the largest one since 2016, when Microsoft Corp purchased LinkedIn in a deal valued at $26 billion.

GitHub, which is privately held, is the largest code host worldwide, as over 28 million developers utilize its platform.

GitHub is to become a part of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud unit after the purchase is finalized.

EU antitrust regulators have a deadline until October 19th to rule on the deal.

Satya Nadella, Microsofts Chief Executive Officer, has already said that GitHub would remain an open platform, which operates with all public clouds.

According to CNN Money, the 33 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Microsoft’s stock price, have a median target of $125.00, with a high estimate of $160.00 and a low estimate of $75.00. The median estimate represents a 12.76% upside compared to the closing price of $110.85 on October 8th.

The same media also reported that 27 out of 34 surveyed investment analysts had rated Microsoft’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $112.98
R1 – $115.33
R2 – $118.52
R3 – $120.87
R4 – $123.21

S1 – $109.79
S2 – $107.44
S3 – $104.25
S4 – $101.05